I'm having the same problem. Started today. All the other apps, mail (including gmail), google calendar, internet, all work fine. I can't access the contacts via the "people" widget, and when I press the "phone" I get an error message (I assume it is connected to the contacts) and the option to force close. I am unable to dial out, since there is no keypad showing. I've tried turning the phone off and on, taking out the battery. My storage is not low and I have not received a low storage message. I am hoping to avoid a factory reset. The only thing I did immediately before the problem starting was to download a few apps via the market. These apps have since all been uninstalled. I don't recall making any changes to contacts in the last few days, and I'm unsure how to check to see if there is anything in the notes field, since I can't access any contacts on my phone... are they stored someplace else?

Ditto! Here is what worked for me. First, close your contacts. Then open your web browser on your mobile device. Navigate to https://accounts.google.com/Login and re-login (re-connect to the server). Then try to sync your contacts. It worked for me.

Somehow I had lost contact with the server that supports GMAIL and contacts.

Ditto! Here is what worked for me. First, close your contacts. Then open your web browser on your mobile device. Navigate to https://accounts.google.com/Login and re-login (re-connect to the server). Then try to sync your contacts. It worked for me.

Somehow I had lost contact with the server that supports GMAIL and contacts.

Click to expand...

I'm having this exact same issue (as described above). Tried this suggestion just now. No go. My contacts haven't synced successfully since Sept 24th.

I tried logging into https://accounts.google.com/Login from my S3 as I had the same issue....it worked! Started tidying up contacts that had merged due to JB and cleaned up almost all when the sync stopped again. Login to above account and sign-out and log back in to no avail. Contact Sync stuffed again.

Interestingly enough, SMTP setting dropped out as well. Had to drop that back to no authentication/login but it works.

Then sync and all should be OK. Mine was anyway - ymmv. It seems the "contacts storage" app is the one that actually manages the database(s) and if you have a corrupt database on the phone nothing will fix it except clearing the database. A factory reset will do this obviously, but is a bit drastic.